


Ghosts and Pacifiers

by just_a_loser



Series: Regressuary 2020 [2]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, CGRE - Caregiver/Age Regressor, M/M, Non-Sexual Age Play, Swearing, centered around Eddie's fear of contamination, little!Eddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:46:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22531936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_loser/pseuds/just_a_loser
Summary: “Now tell me, what does my sweet angel want to do?”Eddie’s tongue stuck out slightly from between his lips and his eyebrows furrowed, thinking. Returning his tongue to its rightful place, he answered. “Story?”“Of course!” Richie wouldn’t toot his own horn...well, that’s a lie, he totally would...but he was incredibly good at telling stories. He’d go so far as to say he was the best.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Regressuary 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1620436
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73
Collections: Regressuary, Regressuary 2020





	Ghosts and Pacifiers

Richie sighed as he watched Eddie make his third trip to the kitchen sink in the past hour, returning yet again without his pacifier. He heaved himself up from his spot on the couch as Eddie took his. Off to the sink once more.

Richie grabbed the pacifier from the sink and gently rinsed it, wishing this paranoia hadn’t been instilled in his boyfriend when he was young. Every time the thing came out of his mouth, regardless of the fact he never set it down, it had to be washed. And Richie obliged. Eddie had gotten better with things these past few years. Normally. Going into his headspace made him vulnerable. And though he trusted Richie, that deep-seated fear of contamination shone through. 

He’d never had it in him to deny Eddie this, nor any other seemingly ridiculous action that stemmed from his fears. Not while he was in his headspace, at least. When he was out of headspace, Richie would crack jokes about his boyfriend’s tendency to overreact to things, poking fun at “the Neat Freak,” so he called him. But when he was like this, he didn’t point it out. The last thing Richie wanted to do was make his baby boy feel self conscious in a time meant for him to escape that line of thinking. And yet, all Richie wanted him to do was escape, not worry about those kinds of things. As any kid should. 

“Hey there,” Richie smiled as he entered their living room, watching Eddie’s eyes light up as they met his. “Did ya lose something, Eds?” He waved the pacifier in the air.

Eddie shook his head. “Nuh. Left it in the sink. Not lost.”

“Of course, my bad.” Richie plopped back down on the couch, pulling Eddie into his lap. “And does my Eddie Spaghetti want his paci back?”

Eddie giggled and shook his head, leaning back into his boyfriend’s chest. 

Richie set the pacifier on the coffee table, idly wondering if he’d have to wash it once more. Pushing that thought from his mind, he put on a grin. “Now tell me, what does my sweet angel want to do?”

Eddie’s tongue stuck out slightly from between his lips and his eyebrows furrowed, thinking. Returning his tongue to its rightful place, he answered. “Story?”

“Of course!” Richie wouldn’t toot his own horn...well, that’s a lie, he totally would...but he was incredibly good at telling stories. He’d go so far as to say he was the best. 

He cleared his throat as Eddie turned in his lap to see him. “Now, once upon a time, there was...a boy,” Richie started, working hard to mask the fact that he was choosing his words carefully. “Now this boy was smart, and as cute as a button.” He lightly tapped Eddie on the nose, causing him to grin. “And one day, he moved into a new house. It was big and bright, the grandest place a person could see. The were chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, satin curtains on all the windows, and even a room full of toys for this wonderful boy! He was as happy as could be. He played with his toys every day, and the kitchen always had whatever food he wanted.

“But then, something happened. One day the boy heard a ruckus from upstairs, and boom! Down the stairs came a ghost!”

Eddie was enthralled, eagerly waiting for Richie to continue.

“The boy wanted to say hi to the ghost. What d’ya think, Eds, should he try to be friends with the ghost?”

Eddie nodded his head vigorously, his mouth slightly agape.

Richie smiled. “Of course. The boy tried to be friends with the ghost, he even tried to share his toys! But that ghost, oh, he’s a mean son of a bitch, he didn’t want to be friends! In fact, he thought it was fun to scare the boy! Now ya see, this ghost was a special one, and by that I mean a specially mean one. The ghost would pop out in front of the boy when he was walking and scare him. And every time he screamed, the ghost would laugh! Isn’t that mean?”

Eddie nodded, his fingers now curled in Richie’s shirt as he stared up at him.

“He painted the chandeliers to look like spiders, cut scary faces into the curtains, and did everything he could to make him scared. And it worked; pretty soon the boy was getting scared by the ghost’s tricks all the time. But remember, this boy was smart. And what do smart boys do? They think. More than this stupid ghost, that’s for sure. 

“So the boy thought and thought, trying to figure out what to do. Every time he got scared, the ghost laughed. So maybe, if he didn’t get scared, the ghost wouldn’t like to try anymore. And so, the next time the ghost popped up, the boy didn’t scream. He might’ve been a little scared, but he ignored the ghost. Now what d’ya think the ghost did?”

Eddie blinked slowly and shrugged, waiting for the answer to be provided.

“That mean ghost was surprised the boy didn’t scream, and tried again and again to spook him. And every time it didn’t work, he had less and less fun. So after a while, the ghost stopped trying. He stopped scaring the boy and went back upstairs to do his spooky ghost business and left the boy alone. 

“So all the boy had to do was ignore the ghost, and eventually it stopped scaring him. It was hard at first, but it worked.”

Richie looked down at Eddie, who was looking down at his own lap. He quickly tried to think of a way to end the story to distract from the fact that it was a thinly veiled metaphor.

“So the boy played with his toys and found a secret world hidden inside the pantry, the end.”

Eddie’s head popped up. “Hey!”

Richie mimicked his tone. “What?”

“Can’t end it like that! Gotta tell me ‘bout the secret world or not say it at all!” Eddie whined.

“Well it happened, he just didn’t want to tell anyone about it. Kept those secrets for himself, I guess.”

Eddie glared. “Fine. Meanie,” he mumbled.

Richie let out an exaggerated gasp. “My Eds? Calling me a meanie?! Oh, I’ve gone and done it now, I’m ruined! How can I ever come back from this?! Eds, oh, Eddie, please forgive me! I can’t stand another second of this torture!”

Eddie let out a giggle, his scowl quickly dissipating. “You’re stupid.”

“C’mon, ya know you love me. Now I don’t know about you, but I’m all tuckered out from all that story telling, ya down for a nap Eddie Spaghetti?”

Eddie nodded, looking from Richie to the coffee table, where his pacifier sat. He sighed, reaching his arm out to grab it by its handle. He held it up, hesitating, his eyes darting to Richie.

Richie said nothing, not wanting to deter him from the choice he was about to make. He certainly hoped for one outcome over the other, but could never blame Eddie if things didn’t turn out that way. He waited, keeping his expression neutral. 

In reality, his hesitation only lasted a few seconds, but to the two of them it seemed like hours. And finally, Eddie made his choice. He popped the pacifier into his mouth and wrapped his arms around Richie, burying his face in his shirt.

Richie returned the favor, tightening his hold around his boyfriend’s torso as he rested his chin on the other’s head. He knew that was a big step for Eddie, and that just went to show how he was the bravest boy of them all.

**Author's Note:**

> I imagined this taking place post-Chapter 2, but it can be interpreted any way you like.
> 
> Come talk to me on Tumblr! https://justaloser-writes.tumblr.com/


End file.
